It is well known in motor vehicles to provide an air bag assembly for protecting a vehicle occupant. It is also known to provide an air bag assembly including an air bag and an inflator for generating gas to inflate the air bag upon sensing predetermined vehicle conditions. It is also known to provide an air bag assembly for side impact protection of the vehicle occupant.
The prior art has disclosed side impact air bag assemblies which have either one air bag or a plurality of air bags which deploy to protect the head and torso portions of the vehicle occupant. These air bags have an inboard contact face for contacting the vehicle occupant and have an opposite outboard face which must be supported by nearby vehicle structure such as the door, window, or pillar to prevent the occupant from pushing the air bag away. However, many times the support structure is not in a convenient location for air bag placement or the support structure, such as a window, is not always in place as a reaction surface during air bag deployment.